Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior has already had tense relations with one of the players he’ll be joining in his new role.
Rosenior was recruited from Strasbourg following the unexpected departure of Enzo Maresca, negotiations for the former being relatively simple, given both clubs sit under the BlueCo umbrella.
It’s a huge opportunity for the 41-year-old, who was sacked by Hull City a couple of years ago, but not all those party to the transition will be in celebration mode.
Chelsea striker has work to do to get back in Liam Rosenior’s good books
Rosenior spent one-and-a-half years with the Ligue 1 side, acting as a testing ground at times for the likes of Andrey Santos and Kendry Paez, who hope to have big futures with sister club Chelsea.
The coach’s move between the clubs should open up opportunities for those types of players.
Rosenior ball is coming to Chelsea 👀 A slick Strasbourg move is finished in style by Chelsea bound Emmanuel Emegha ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/p8FA0hPIC7January 6, 2026
Striker Emmanuel Emegha is set to follow Rosenior from Strasbourg to Chelsea this summer, but the pair have already clashed in France.
The Dutch forward, who captains Le Racing, was suspended by the French club for one game last month due to a “recent failure to respect the club’s values, expectations and rules.”
The official statement expanded no further than that, but his former, and future, head coach told the press: “[He] made some clumsy comments to the press that hurt a lot of people, and he had to be punished for that.
“He also needs to realise that every action has consequences.”
Those consequences may be even greater than first feared for Emegha, who will have a new club in the summer, but not an entirely clean slate.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while it’s not ideal that Emegha is joining Rosenior at Chelsea with an already blemished record, there should be no major impact on his future career.
The 22-year-old took the punishment gracefully, and in a statement on Instagram said: “I know I need to do better, and I will do better.”
He has not appeared for Strasbourg since that incident, due to picking up a knock around the time of the suspension, so how he bounces back is yet to be seen.
Emegha is valued at €28m, according to Transfermarkt.
